What to Expect of Digital Asset Management in the near Future

Digital Asset Management, popularly known as DAM, is one of the major technology breakthroughs of the recent past. As the name suggests, DAM systems are developed so that enterprises can handle all of their digital assets in a more effective and efficient manner. At least, that is what the popular opinion seems to be, going by the content that is frequently circulated through various digital channels. However, according to industry experts, the reality is very different. The statistics on a website reveal the contrast: on a scale of 10, most enterprises that have a DAM system in place, rate their vendors 4.5 on average.

According to Theresa Regli, an analyst at Real Story Group, a major reason is the unreal expectations created by sales messages about the advantages and benefits of DAM systems. She explains, “Salespeople often talk about how DAM is going to solve all these big omnichannel problems, but it's probably going to take companies two or three years to solve the fundamental ones.” In fact, the notion among marketing professionals is that the whole concept and practice of DAM is in for a major overhaul, because, in Regli’s words, “By the time those problems are solved, DAM technology and marketing technology are going to have evolved.”

While DAM technology has gained significant popularity and traction in the market, the rapidly- evolving marketing technology landscape can be suspected to overshadow or engulf DAM. The speculation makes sense as the functions of digital asset management are aligned with the purpose of various marketing tools. As an additional component in the marketing stack of an organization, DAM can play a significant role in driving campaign management and user experience strategies for the organization. However, achieving seamless integration of DAM into marketing technology is practically not possible anytime in the recent future.

Regli explains the reasons, “DAM vendors are starting to use terms like 'marketing automation,' 'campaign management' and 'personalization'--but that's not necessarily a functionality they inherently have. It's facilitating that if there's good data, assets and metadata, but you need another technology to create the campaign and send it out. There's a lot of marketing talk about doing it in a more unified way, but no one is actually doing that yet.”

Big Data is going to play a crucial role in driving change in DAM technology and practice. The expanding scope of DAM from a mere data storage and categorization service to incorporating business analytics functions indicates that the transformation is inevitable. As the demand of marketers for extended functions in DAM will increase, vendors can be expected to oblige by adding extra capabilities to DAM. As Mathew Gonnering, Chief Executive Officer, Widen, puts it, “As technology advances, tech-savvy workers gain influence and demand for marketing content grows, DAM systems will evolve by necessity. Marketers tasked with delivering consistent brand messages across an expansive digital universe will depend on it.”

As of now, DAM’s below-average results are an undeniable fact. However, how the technology and practice will evolve, and what the major drivers of change will be, remains to be seen.